World War II Database

German Luftwaffe Hauptmann Werner Thierfelder, commander of the special test unit (Eprobungskommando) tasked with evolving tactics for the new Me 262 jet-powered fighter was killed when his plane crashed in flames near Landsberg, Germany. The cause of the crash was not determined, but it was likely to be either a mechanical failure or due to poor fuel quality. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC, CPC]

US XIX Corps troops entered Saint-Lô, France. British troops launched Operation Goodwood against Caen with Allied 2,200 aircraft supporting the ground assault, but stubborn German defense cost the British VIII Corps 200 tanks and 1,500 men, while just over 100 Panzers were destroyed. After sundown, 25 American B-24 bombers flew in support of resistance activities. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]

In Germany, 291 American B-17 bombers, escorted by 48 P-38 and 84 P-51 fighters, attacked the port facilities at Kiel and oil refineries at Cuxhaven. To the east, 377 American B-17 bombers, escorted by 294 fighters, attacked Peenemünde, Zinnowitz, and Stralsund. In southern Germany, B-17 and B-24 bombers of US Fifteenth Air Force attacked Memmingen Airfield and the Dornier factories at Manzell; 20 aircraft were lost. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

The keel of British minesweeper Styx was laid down. ww2dbase [CPC]

British destroyer HMS Zambesi was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]

British frigate HMS Balfour sank German submarine U-672 with depth charges north of Guernsey in the English Channel. ww2dbase [CPC]

A Catalina aircraft of British No. 210 Squadron RAF sank German submarine U-742 west of Narvik, Norway; all 52 aboard were killed. ww2dbase [CPC]

German submarine U-2504 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]

German submarine U-3003 was launched. ww2dbase [CPC]

German submarine U-327 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]

German submarine U-2323 was commissioned into service. ww2dbase [CPC]

German troops round up the 2,000 Jews at Rhodes and Kos in Greece; most of them would soon be deported to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

German submarine U-479 fired a spread of two torpedoes at Soviet submarine chaser MO-304 in Vyborg Bay, Russia; U-479 reported that the attack had failed, but one of the torpedoes actually struck MO-304, which required towing back into port. ww2dbase [CPC]

In the Mariana Islands, American P-47 fighters based on Saipan attacked Japanese positions on Tinian and Pagan. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

Hideki Tojo submitted his letter of resignation for his position as the Prime Minister of Japan. He would be officially replaced by Kuniaki Koiso four days later. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa was named the commanding officer of the Southwest Area Fleet. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

The Japanese Navy 14th Air Fleet was officially disbanded; it had been wiped out at Saipan, Mariana Islands ten days earlier. ww2dbase [CPC]

Atlantic Ocean

A Mosquito aircraft of the British No. 333 (Norwegian) Squadron RAF damaged German submarine U-286 in the North Sea; 1 was killed, 7 were wounded. U-286 would be able to sail to Kristiansand, Norway later on the same day. ww2dbase [CPC]

Caroline Islands

In the Caroline Islands, aircraft of the Allied Far East Air Forces attacked Yap and Sorol, while 25 B-24 bombers of the US Seventh Air Force attacked Truk. ww2dbase [CPC]

China

Otozo Yamada succeeded Yoshijiro Umezu as the commanding officer of the Japanese Kwantung Army in northeastern China. ww2dbase [Main Article | CPC]

An attack of the marshalling yards near the French town of Revigny by 107 Lancaster bombers of No. 5 Group, RAF Bomber Command met with disaster when the bombers were intercepted by Luftwaffe fighters as the bombers approached their target East of Paris. Twenty-four of the attackers were shot down including five from No. 619 Squadron. Only two men from the squadron's losses survived - the bomb-aimer from Flying Officer Begernie's crew and the rear gunner from Flying Officer Morcan's crew. ww2dbase [Main Article | AC]

As Polish II Corps advanced toward Ancona, Italy, it captured Agugliano, Chiaravalle, and finally the port city itself by 1430 hours. Meanwhile, troops of US IV Corps began an attack on Leghorn. In the air, US Fifteenth Air Force attacked various German positions throughout the country. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH, CPC]

Soviet First Byelorussian Front launched a heavy attack across the Bug River aimed at Lublin in Poland, the Third Baltic Front attacked toward Pskov in Russia, while the First Ukraine Front advanced toward Lvov in Ukraine. ww2dbase [Main Article | TH]

"With Germany arming at breakneck speed, England lost in a pacifist dream, France corrupt and torn by dissension, America remote and indifferent... do you not tremble for your children?"

Winston Churchill, 1935

About the Site

The World War II Database is founded and managed by
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